Brett Lawrie is back on the disabled list once again, this time due to an oblique strain, but it’s not all bad news on the injury front for the Blue Jays.

According to Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.ca, Blue Jays general manager Alex Anthopoulos said this afternoon that slugger Edwin Encarnacion “may” begin a minor league rehab assignment this weekend. The 31-year-old has been sidelined since July 5 with a right quad strain and suffered a minor setback late last month, but Anthoupoulos expects him to rejoin the Blue Jays by the end of next week if all goes well. It’s even possible he could return a bit sooner. Good news.

Even though Encarnacion has missed a month, he still ranks third in the American League with 26 homers and ninth with 70 RBI. He’s batting .277/.368/.491 overall this season.

Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports that Oakland Athletics owner John Fisher has reversed course and will continue to pay minor leaguers. Fisher tells Slusser, “I concluded I made a mistake.” He said he is also setting up an assistance fund for furloughed employees.

The A’s decided in late May to stop paying paying minor leaguers as of June 1, which was the earliest date on which any club could do so after an MLB-wide agreement to pay minor leaguers through May 31 expired. In the event, the A’s were the only team to stop paying the $400/week stipends to players before the end of June. Some teams, notable the Royals and Twins, promised to keep the payments up through August 31, which is when the minor league season would’ve ended. The Washington Nationals decided to lop off $100 of the stipends last week but, after a day’s worth of blowback from the media and fans, reversed course themselves.

An @sfchronicle exclusive: A's owner John Fisher reverses course, apologizes: team will pay minor-leaguers; "I concluded I made a mistake," he tells me. He's also setting up an assistance fund for furloughed employees: https://t.co/8HUBkFAaBx)